Family Matters
by EyesOnly-with-wifi
Summary: *sequel to Speedster Siblings* Life as a speedster can be many things. Exciting, dangerous, challenging. But never dull.
1. Deleted Scenes

**The actual story will start next chapter. But first there were a couple of short scenes I wanted to write but they didn't really fit into the plot. The mood really varies between them, so I apologise if I give you emotional whiplash.**

1\. Sophie's 15th birthday (happy)

 _Time period – about a third of the way through Speedster Siblings_

"I feel like I'm giving a gift to my own daughter," said Dr Wells as he handed Sophie a small, neatly wrapped, purple rectangle. On his face was the most genuine and open expression any of them had ever seen on him.

"Thank you, Dr Wells," said Sophie happily as she gently removed the paper, careful not to tear it. The gift was obviously a book, and as she exposed a corner of it she could make out a black cover with blue text. Slipping the paper off, she set it on the table and read the title aloud. "Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy?!" She let out a squeak. "I've been wanting to read this forever!" Still holding the book, she threw her arms around Dr Wells' neck. "Thank you!"

"Me next, me next!" cried Cisco, shoving a messily wrapped blob into her hands. "Open it!"

Sophie laughed. "Alright, calm down." She ran a finger along it in search of a suitable opening and tore off the paper best she could, even though part of the sellotape got caught on her hand. Eventually she gave up and opened it with scissors. When she finally removed the paper, which ended up as a crumpled, shredded heap on the desk, the gift was revealed to be a stuffed panda toy. "It's so cute! Thank you Cisco!" She hugged him and even gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "I call him Bert." She set him proudly on the desk atop her book and took a quick picture on her phone. "Guys we need a group selfie! Everybody in." The team got into position behind her and, following Sophie's example, pulled funny faces. "3,2,1. Good one, guys."

"Open mine now!" said Caitlin. She shyly handed Sophie a gift bag sellotaped closed. Sophie cut the tape with scissors and took a small black velvet box out of it. She snapped it open and lifted a thin silver chain with a lightning bolt out. "I saw it and thought of you," explained Caitlin.

"It's beautiful," gasped Sophie. "Can you put it on me?"

"Of course." As Sophie held her hair out of the way, Caitlin fastened the chain around her neck. It looked fantastic resting on top of her fluffy white sweater. Sophie hugged Caitlin then looked down to admire the necklace again.

"I love all your presents so much, thank you!" she said sincerely.

"What did Barry get you?" asked Cisco.

"I don't know yet. Me, him and Iris always do presents together at home. Speaking of, I was meant to be there ten minutes ago. Oops." She pulled a face. "Thanks again, see you later!" And she was gone, the breeze blowing the wrapping paper onto the floor.

2\. Sophie and Barry visit Henry in prison (sad)

 _Time period – about halfway through Speedster Siblings_

Sophie had a death grip on her brother's hand as they sat down on one side of the glass in prison, Barry holding the phone between them. It was Sophie's second time visiting, her first had been so upsetting she refused to set foot in there ever again. That was before the Reverse Flash.

Henry Allen walked into the visiting room and Sophie let out a muffled cry.

"Hi, Barry. Nice to see you again, Sophie. You look beautiful," said Henry calmly.

"Thank you," said Sophie, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and composed herself, "Thank you."

"You all right, Barry?" asked Henry. He could tell something was up immediately. Sophie's presence was also no small indication.

"I screwed up, Dad. After years of searching I - we finally found him. We found the man who killed mom. The man in yellow, the one in the lightning. He's out there, and I had him. He got away. I was so close." The tears were falling freely down both their faces and Sophie snuggled into her brother's chest for comfort. "I promised you that I would get you out of here. Every day you spend in here has been because of him - until today. Now you're in here because of me, and I'm so sorry."

Sophie entwined her fingers with Barry's and placed her other hand on the glass so her father could place his opposite. Only a few centimetres of glass separated them.

"I…Barry, Sophie, this is not your fault. Look at me."

The two of them made eye contact with him.

Henry took a deep breath, trying to be strong for his children. "I know what you've given up. Every decision you've made in the past 14 years has been because of me and your mom. Normally I'm glad you have each other, but in this area I'm not. You're both as bad as each other in being too consumed with what happened to me and your mom to let yourself have a life. Well, let it go. Hear me now. The man in the yellow suit has taken enough from this family already. Don't let him take any more." His tone turned more serious. "Promise me you will not let this consume you. "Promise me."

"I promise," whispered Sophie, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"I promise," said Barry.

3\. West/Allen/Queen family dinner (funny)

 _Time period – after Speedster Siblings_

"Please may you pass me the salt, Sophie?" asked Joe politely.

The salt literally floated over to him while Sophie giggled.

"No superpowers at the dinner table!" protested Joe, plucking the salt out of the air and eyeing it distrustfully.

"It's not going to bite you, Joe," Sophie reminded him with an angelic expression on her face. "And you can't prove it was me…"

Joe rolled his eyes. "You're the only one here with telekinesis. It was completely you."

Sophie gasped and pointed to herself in a 'who, me?' gesture.

"It wasn't partially her, it was completely her," said Barry seriously.

"Are you going to use the salt?" asked Thea. "If so, may I use it after you?"

Joe looked down in surprise to discover he was still holding the salt at arm's length. "Oh, yes. Sorry." He sprinkled some on his fries and handed it to Thea.

"What even is this family?" Iris asked the world in general when she had stopped laughing enough to breathe.


	2. Back at it again

**We now return to your (not so) regularly scheduled programming.**

Sophie sat on one of the chairs in the Cortex with the lights switched off. Her knees were hugged to her chest with her feet on the seat. The lab was so empty without Dr Wells – sorry, Eobard. Sure, he turned out to be a massive evil jerk, but he had been a permanent fixture there for so long and a source of so much comfort and support that Sophie didn't know how she was meant to cope without him. Not to mention that he was the only person who seemed to have so much as a vague idea about her powers – where they came from, how to use them and where all of this was headed.

"Sophie?" asked Caitlin gently when the amount of time the younger girl had spent staring angrily at the wall was beginning to concern her.

"GAH!" exclaimed Sophie, her heart leaping into her mouth. Her entire body jerked, tipping her chair over so that it crashed to the floor sideways with her still in it. Panting, she looked at Caitlin over the back of the chair and yelled, "Don't you knock?"

Caitlin bit her fist to stop herself from laughing, "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I was quite clearly miles away there, what did you think was going to happen?"

Caitlin didn't know how to respond to that; the younger girl's point was completely valid. Eventually she decided to change the subject. "Cisco got a hit on the metamonitor, apparently there's been a lot of explosions at the nearby skate park not caused by natural means."

Putting the chair back upright, Sophie asked, "Did Bar say if he had plans of handling it?"

"He and Detective West are busy at the precinct."

Sophie shrugged. "I guess the metas of Central City have no idea about timing." She sighed. "Don't you suppose they could have waited a few days?"

Caitlin held out Sophie's supersuit. "Come on. Kicking somebody's ass is a scientifically proven method of making you feel better."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Scientifically proven method my foot."

"Don't knock it till you've tried it," said Caitlin. "Go knock this meta instead."

Despite herself, Sophie smiled and took the suit, running off to the workroom get changed. As she slid the familiar polyester on, it dawned on her how much of a beacon of hope the lightning bolt on her chest had become. Some days she was proud to wear it, others she struggled with the idea of whether or not she deserved to wear it.

"It's not exactly like anybody else is capable of saving the city from metas," she said to herself as she put on her mask. "Why do they all feel the need to be evil anyway? What does it say about our society that the first thing people do when they get powers is commit a crime? If I hadn't been in a coma for like a year after getting mine, I wouldn't have done anything illegal. To be honest, I probably would have used my speed to get up an hour later and still be on time for school, because I'm incredibly lame like that."

When she arrived at the front of the building, Thea was already there in her Speedy suit with a full quiver of arrows.

Cisco was sat cross-legged on the ground with a tablet in his lap. "Hey, Sophie." He turned the tablet to show her, cupping his hands around it so the sun would not reflect off the screen. "This is where the meta has been seen, and this is some blurry news footage."

Sophie knelt down and looked at the aerial view of an old, graffitied skate park followed by a grainy recording of a teenage boy in a grey hoody who waved his hand at a slab of concrete and caused it to explode into a thousand pieces mere moments later.

"Any idea how he's doing this?" asked Sophie.

"All we know is that he is doing something to the concrete itself since he doesn't have anything in his hand," explained Cisco. "If you get close enough to him to have a look, the camera in your lightning bolt will show us everything we need to know. Caitlin and I will be able to tell the two of you how to defeat him."

"I suppose we're going on foot?"

"Unless you have a problem with that?" Thea raised one eyebrow.

"It does seem a bit boring when we can do all this cool stuff. Race you!" Sophie raced off, briefly spiralling back to check Cisco's tablet to make sure she was actually going to the right place.

Thea jogged towards the back alley of a main street then fired a grappling hook arrow upwards. It wedged itself on the ledge of a nearby roof and she tugged gently to make sure it was stable. Satisfied, she pulled herself up and swung, firing another arrow mid-air and using the momentum she gained to travel quickly to the skate park.

"Remember, girls," said Cisco through their earpieces, "You are just observing for now. Do not attempt to engage the target." More quietly, presumably speaking to Caitlin, he added, "I've always wanted to say that."

Sophie smiled as she skidded to a stop behind a tree. Classic hiding place. If she leant to the side, she could see a concrete ramp covered in slogans such as 'Daz woz ere' and 'Jake loves Karen'. There were two boys there, one sat on the top of the ramp smoking, dressed in dirty trainers, dark trousers and a red T-shirt. Another was riding his skateboard up and down the ramp. When he got to the opposite end to his friend he did a trick that involved effectively jumping off the board, flipping it around with his feet then landing on it again and repeating the motion.

Sophie was really impressed; sports had never really been her strongest suit. She was slightly disappointed when Thea arrived because she would have loved to stay there and observe the skaters in their natural habitat, seeing if they did any other cool tricks.

There was a rustling of leaves, a few showering down around her, before a familiar red-clad individual swung down from the tree. "'Sup."

"What sort of greeting is that?" stage-whispered Sophie, scrunching up her nose in distaste.

"A good one!" argued Thea. "Are either of these individuals who we are looking for?"

Sophie shook her head. "Skateboarding is such a weird idea. Whoever thought 'hey, let's put wheels on a bit of floor and do dangerous things on them!'?"

"A bit of floor, really?"

"Is that not essentially what it is? Especially if it was invented way back in the past."

Thea shook her head, chuckling. "You're so weird."

"Actually, the skateboard was invented in California during the 1950s by a group of surfers who wanted something adrenaline-inducing to do when there were no waves," said Caitlin over the comms.

Sophie turned bright red and shook her hair over her face. "I forgot the line was still open!" she squeaked.

"Well, now we know all about the history of skateboards," said Cisco happily. "You learn something new every day."

"Guys, shush," muttered Thea.

She leaned to the side slightly so she could get a clear view of a skate park, Sophie following her lead. A young boy, about 5' 7 if she had to guess, wearing a grey hoody walked up to the ramp and thrust one of his hands out. Immediately fragments of cement rained down like snow, causing the boys to pick up their boards and high tail it out of there.

"You getting this?" whispered Sophie.

"Crystal clear," replied Caitlin. In the background there was the familiar clacking of her typing on a keyboard. "It looks like he is extracting the elements from the ground to make explosives. He's still a kid, maybe he was in a chemistry lesson when the Accelerator exploded."

"The Chemistry Kid!" cried Cisco. "Whoa, that was like instantaneous my dudes. Clearly naming these metas is my superpower. Who cares what Dr Evil said, this is my true calling."

"Any ideas on how to defeat him?" Another explosion went off and Sophie ducked behind the tree. "Now would be nice."

"Working on it," said Caitlin. "We can cook up a neutraliser here and Sophie can come and grab it?"

"Perfect."

"We'll be fast," promised Cisco. "Not as fast as you, but we'll do our best."

…..

Caitlin used a pipette to add the correct dosage of chemicals into a glass vial, lips pursed in concentration. As soon as she had done it she made a quick mental calculation to determine the acidity of the concoction. "It should work. Can you run a simulation?"

Cisco nodded, typing the values into the computer and hitting enter. The screen was filled with a virtual Dash in her turquoise suit throwing a tiny object and stopping an explosion in its tracks. "Good job."

"Thank you." Caitlin put the vial in the large circular mixer in the workroom and pressed start.

Cisco spun in his chair. "So why do you know so much about skateboards?"

"My cousin was really into it at one point and educated us all," she said. "I thought it the science and engineering aspect was very interesting."

"You're such a nerd."

Caitlin looked at him. "That coming from you?"

"Eh."

The machine beeped and stopped spinning. Caitlin removed the vial and set it on the desk in the Cortex before switching on the line and telling Sophie it was ready.

…..

"On it like a car bonnet." Dash vanished in a purple-tinged breeze, stole the vial from the desk and returned before Thea had brushed the hair out of her face. "Got it." She held up a small vial filled with a yellow-orange liquid.

"Just throw it at the explosion to stop it," explained Caitlin. "The glass will smash and release the substance."

"Ok." Sophie peered round the tree and saw the meta. "Now or never." She ran out into the bright sunlight of the skate park. "Hey, look at me!"

The Chemistry Kid looked coldly at her and aimed his hand at the ground in front of her. dash activated her speed and watched as the ground rippled in slow motion. Tossing the vial, she saw the cracks decorate the sides of it before shattering. The liquid splashed onto the concrete and the ripples stopped.

"What?" cried the meta. He thrust his hands out again, but Thea caught him on the chest with a perfectly-aimed net arrow. It bound up his limbs and restricted his movement.

"That's my girl!" said Sophie happily. "We make such a good team – Wonder Girls forever!" she held her hand up and Thea high-fived it.

While the Chemistry Kid was too startled to try his powers again, Sophie scooped him up in her arms and ran him back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

…..

The metahuman had been temporarily put in the pipeline while Caitlin contacted child services, since he was still a minor, and worked out a way to permanently neutralise his powers so nobody else would be put in danger.

Sophie was sat in her usual spot on the desk, next to Iris who had brought them all treats from Jitters. Caitlin and Cisco were working on the computer while Thea texted her friends in Starling City.

"Hey guys," greeted Barry as he entered in his civilian clothes. "How was your day?"

Still in her supersuit, Sophie shrugged and swallowed her mouthful of muffin. "Saved the city, as per usual. How was the day job?"

"Boring. I was stuck in my lab all morning analysing everything under the sun."

"Imagine how bored I was then," said Joe from behind Barry. "Stuck behind a desk doing all the paperwork under the sun."

"That's unfortunate for you both," said Thea politely. "When I had a day job it was running a night club. Ollie's taking care of that now. Hopefully." She pulled a face.

"Speaking of emo older brothers," began Sophie, "I just remembered, Barry, I'm mad at you."

"What have I done now?" he asked tiredly.

"It's what you've not done."

"What haven't I done now?"

"You didn't tell Thea and me about how I have a really important future and your crazy-ass plan to get yourself killed helping an evil dude."

"Oh, that."

"Yes that!"

"Actually, Sophie, you weren't exactly a stellar example yourself," said Joe. "Does leaping into the ring and putting yourself at risk ring a bell?"

The young girl paled. "That wasn't putting myself at risk! I knew I could do it."

"Now ask yourself: was that confidence or arrogance?"

She didn't move, tears glistening in her eyes. Thea put an arm around her comfortingly.

Joe rubbed his face. "Look, all this superpower stuff is completely new to me and I'm not even gonna pretend to answer it – but I know what somebody disregarding their own safety looks like and I'm disappointed in both of you."

Cisco made an uncomfortable noise, "This doesn't sound like any of our business. Maybe Caitlin and I should go?"

"No," said Joe. "You are all equally involved in this. From now on, we are all going to be completely honest with each other. Promise?"

"I promise," they all said in unison.

"I promise too," said Joe. "This isn't going to be easy, but we all have each other."

 **AN – coming up soon: trips to Earth-3 and National City. Thank you to highlander348 for the review and Guest for the idea – it will be making an appearance very soon!**


	3. What on earth-3 is that?

"Run, Sophie!" yelled Cisco across the airfield.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she hollered back, racing back and forth while kicking up a cloud of dust at her feet. Looking at the ground her peripheral vision made it kind of seem like she was running on air.

Her answer made its way back to the observing scientists sounding like she was talking through a wind tunnel. In reality, she was talking through a sort of lilac vortex.

Cisco checked the timer on his phone. It had been exactly a minute normal-person-time, who knows how long Sophie-the-speedster-time. "That's enough," he called.

"How'd I do?" she asked, materialising next to him with windswept hair, not out of breath in the slightest.

"Better than last time," said Caitlin. "Your endurance has certainly improved."

"Ayyyyy," said Sophie, holding up her hand for Thea to high-five.

"That's getting old now," said Thea. She imitated Sophie and struck an exaggerated too-cool-for-school pose, "Ayyyyyyy."

"It was old from the minute she first said it," Barry not-whispered.

Sophie's jaw dropped. "Oi!" She skidded backwards to get a run-up and was about to rugby-tackle her brother to the ground, but Thea held her back by the hood of her hoody. For training, Sophie had taken to wearing civilian clothes since depending on the season the S.T.A.R. Labs airfield was either a sauna or an ice cavern and there was no inbetween.

Caitlin's eyes widened as she stared in horror at something above just behind them. "Anybody happen to know what that is?" she asked shakily.

Sophie followed where her finger was pointing and saw a sort of greyish blue cloud that was pulsing and swirling just above the ground about ten feet away from them. In a way it resembled mist, but at the same time it was too solid.

"Not good, probably." Sophie jogged closer to get a look at it, trying very hard to ignore the feeling of profound Wrongness it was giving her. The edges were tinged blue, and through it she could just about make out the night sky. And it was growing, slowly expanding out at the edges. As it grew, a piece of coastline became visible as well. Silky sand with the ocean lapping onto it, and the moon reflecting off the water.

Cisco started tapping his tablet screen frantically. "It appears to be some sort of breech," he said. "Hear me out here guys, but I think it might lead to another world."

"Another world?" echoed Barry.

"Yeah, like this one but…not. A parallel universe."

"Uh, guys?" asked Sophie tentatively.

"Not now," Barry said offhandedly. "Like the one we opened to send Dr Wells home?"

"Opening that one may have triggered a…weak spot in the space-time continuum so when Sophie ran just now it tore and opened another breech. Probably leading to another Earth," explained Cisco.

"Guys!" shouted Sophie.

"Not now!" said Barry without looking at her. "Is there a way of closing this breech?"

"GUYS!" Sophie marched over to Barry and grabbed him by the shoulders, turning him to face the breech. A giant shark-man-thing was climbing out of the ocean.

"Oh."

"That's all you could think of to say?" said Sophie.

"What would you rather I say?" asked Barry angrily.

"I dunno, yikes maybe?"

"Yikes!" exclaimed Barry.

"Yeah, like tha – oh." She looked back to the breech and saw that the shark-man-thing was approaching it and staring angrily at them. Its mouth was open, revealing sharp teeth and its eyes were filled with malice.

Without pausing to think, the siblings raced towards it and threw themselves through the hole, tackling the shark to the ground.

Behind them the breech closed up.

 **AN –Hello lovely people! Sorry it's been so long, but hopefully this short chapter will be able to tide you over until I have time to write the next major installment. I know I took so many liberties with science and flash mythology in this story, so please try and ignore that and just enjoy the story.**

 **Thanks to Guest, Highlander348 and kindleflame5 for reviewing and for the awesome ideas, they will all be featuring soon.**


	4. Not on Earth-1 any more

Ice cold water splashed Sophie's back as she tried to wrestle the shark, but he was far stronger than her. Good thing I have one thing he doesn't, she thought. In a matter of seconds, she focussed all her mental energy and threw the shark backwards with everything she had.

The Allen siblings watched as the man-shark-thing flew back and was about to plummet into the sea when he froze unexpectedly as if a force was holding him in place, just above the water with nothing to hold on to.

"Are you…?" Barry asked his sister, gesturing to the creature.

"No," replied Sophie slowly. She frowned and levitated a nearby rock to make sure she wasn't suddenly using her powers without realising.

A few meters to their left, a white S.T.A.R. Labs van opened its back doors to reveal a well-lit interior that was lined with computer screens and contained a small table. A slim, blonde girl raced out and glared at Barry. "I told you to stay inside!"

"I…uh….the breech," stuttered Barry awkwardly, pointing to where it had opened.

She looked at him quizzically. "What about the breech? Reverb closed it before anything could happen."

"Not quite," whispered Sophie to herself, still staring at the shark. The girl didn't respond.

"Reverb?" asked Barry.

"Did you hit your head back there or something?" said the girl in irritation. Then she glanced off into the distance like something was speaking to her and held up a finger, "One second please." She took a couple of steps back to the van and exchanged a few words with somebody in it who was out of the speedsters' line of sight.

Upon returning, the girl noticed Sophie for the first time and pulled her into a hug. "Sophie! How long have you been here?"

As she the girl released her, Sophie answered, "About a minute, give or take."

"A minute?" she repeated, realisation dawning on her quickly. "You aren't Barry and Sophie Allen, are you?" Behind her, a giant gorilla got out of the van and threw a net over the shark, then threw the net over his shoulder and carried it back to the van and tossed it in.

Barry's eyes widened and he turned as white as a sheet.

The girl laughed. "Definitely not the Barry we know and love." She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Claudia Wells."

Barry took it and smiled at her. "Hang on, _Wells_?"

"My uncle is the actual Harrison Wells. As opposed to imposter Harrison Wells who was in fact Eobard Thawne from the future," explained Claudia.

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, we had all that fun stuff on our Earth as well."

"So you are Barry and Sophie Allen, just from a different Earth? I'm guessing you came through the breech when Reverb opened it?"

"That seems to be the theory we're going with," said Sophie, shoving her hands into the pocket of her hoody.

"You want to come with us back to S.T.A.R. Labs?" offered Claudia. "I reckon the folks there will be able to help you more than I can."

Sophie looked to her brother for guidance who considered it for a second then nodded.

"Grodd!" called Claudia over her shoulder. "These nice people are coming back with us."

 _"_ _Hello."_ A deep, gravelly voice appeared inside their heads.

"Oh, wow. That's weird with a beard," said Sophie, screwing up her face slightly.

"You get used to it," said Claudia as she led them back into the van. Grodd rode in the back with the shark, and the three humans sat in front. The van was kind of like car in the sense that it had four seats in the front. The driver's seat was occupied by a dark-haired man wearing glasses.

"These are Barry and Sophie from an alternate universe," explained Claudia as she climbed into the front passenger seat.

"Only you could go out to catch a man-shark and come back with two people from a parallel universe," said the man in mock-disappointment. "Anyway: hi, I'm Jem, Claudia's brother."

"Nice to meet you," said Sophie, sitting behind Claudia. When everybody was ready Jem drove them back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

"My head is still ringing from that psychic gorilla. Where did you guys get a psychic gorilla anyway?" asked Barry.

"General Eiling made him. Did you have him on your earth?" said Jem. As he was talking he signed something to Claudia.

"No," replied Sophie.

"He was basically some evil army general guy who wanted Firestorm. You have him, right?"

"Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein."

"Yeah. Eiling made Grodd psychic, basically. Then he – Eiling, that is – joined Captain Cold, Heatwave, Eobard and Zoom to try and take over S.T.A.R. Labs and eventually all of Central City. It didn't work though, because my sister joined Grodd and Hartley Rathaway to take them all down."

"Dang. Claudia, you are badass!" said Sophie, smiling at her in the wing mirror.

Claudia blushed slightly. "Aww, thanks. And about Grodd – you should be pleased he spoke to you, he doesn't do that to many people. Normally I'm the only one he speaks directly to, and I'm deaf so I don't know how would feel to somebody used to regular speech."

Jem looked over his shoulder at her as they pulled up outside the familiar building surrounded by a wire fence covered in 'hazard' signs. "This where it is in your world?"

Sophie hopped down out of the van. "Yup."

Claudia led the way inside the building, and the Allen siblings discovered that the outside was where the similarities ended. Some of the walls had been knocked down to make one massive room with larger doorways, presumably so Grodd could comfortably enter and leave, and instead of just Barry and Sophie's supersuits there was an entire cabinet containing a red flash suit, a floaty black dress and a dark suit with a cape, to name just a few. The thermostat was turned way up so it was boiling hot, almost to the point of being stifling.

The desk, computers and TV screens were all in the same place, but the room appeared to be deserted.

"Umm hi?" called Sophie uncertainly.

Two people emerged from the workroom, heads bent over a tablet. The person on the left glanced up and stopped walking upon catching sight of the new arrivals. "Hold on, Sophie? Did you change your hair?"

She was Caitlin, but not. Her hair was longer, wavier and so fair it looked almost brittle. Her skin was porcelain pale, her eyes bleached to look like ice and her lips had a blue tinge. Her voice sounded almost hollow with a slight echo. She was dressed in tight, dark blue leather trousers and a leather jacket.

"Caitlin?" asked Barry in a startled gasp.

Her laugh was like shattering glass.

The sound of it made the other person look up, who was Cisco but not. His hair was slicked back into a ponytail, and he wore metal glasses with what looked like blue lights over the eyes. He was dressed in black and wore a thick brown coat.

"Cisco?"

"Announcement: I finally ascertained which wire it was that w-" The tall man holding a pair of silver metal gloves decorated with green lights stopped mid-sentence and stood looking at them. "Who the heck are you?"

One more person emerged from the work room, and it was Barry. Nothing extraordinary about him – just Barry dressed in regular clothes. When he saw who was stood in the doorway he did a visible double take that involved him skidding backwards, freezing then tilting his head to the side and staring at them open-mouthed. "Huh?"

Sophie snorted a laugh that drew the attention of the entire room to her. Then she coughed and pressed one hand to her mouth, "Sorry."

"Anyway," continued Claudia calmly as if this was perfectly normal. "These nice folks are Barry and Sophie from an alternate universe."

"In our world I'm the only one who isn't a meta," Jem added to the Allen siblings. "Claudia is the Wicked Witch, Cisco is Reverb and Caitlin is Killer Frost. And Grodd is…Grodd. Hartley technically has no powers but he invented the sonic gloves he is holding."

"Uh-uh," said Sophie. She was having a little trouble taking everything in, honestly, but it was all good. She was a superhero for pity's sake! She could handle a parallel universe. They just needed to figure out a way to get home as soon as possible. Before something goes horribly wrong.

 **AN – Claudia and Jem's backstory takes place in two of my other fics (Wells Then and After Dawn) and I included them because their S.T.A.R. Labs has a very different story and dynamic, so I felt like it would make a good Earth-3 for Barry and Sophie to visit. Killer Frost and Reverb don't make an appearance in either of these fics, but I like to imagine Caitlin and Cisco discovered their powers soon after the events of After Dawn and this is set about six months after that.**

 **Things will pick up in the next chapter in terms of the main plot, then the Allens will visit National City and Gotham City.**


	5. Saving Central City

"There is one person who might be able to help us fathom all this out," said Claudia. "Professor Stein. He's the only physicist we know – sorry, Barry – who might actually understand this."

"I'll call him," decided Jem, disappearing to the workroom with his phone.

Hartley glanced at his watch and put on his coat. "Much as I would love to stay and chat with you all, Barry and I have to get back to work now."

"Yeah, see you later." Barry waved and they both left.

Sophie lent against the wall so she could survey the entire room without moving. "So, what does Hartley do?"

"He analyses CCTV recordings for the police department. Barry is a crime scene investigator," explained Claudia.

"Yeah, he does that on our Earth too."

Sophie looked at Caitlin/Killer Frost. "Earlier you asked if I'd changed my hair. How do I have my hair on this earth?"

Caitlin looked momentarily taken aback and took a second to answer. "On this earth you are…very different."

Sophie's face lit up as she smiled. "Ooh, tell me more!"

"Your hair is the same colour, but sort of collarbone-length and wavy. You don't have any powers, because you weren't here when the Accelerator exploded. You go to boarding school in Star City, but according to our friend Thea you help Team Arrow out when you can. And from what I have seen of this you, your personality is very different."

"Wait, Star City?" asked Barry. "We have a Starling City."

"It used to be Starling City until Palmer Tech went kaboom and the city got renamed in honor of Ray Palmer," explained Cisco.

Sophie's smile dropped off her face. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you."

Jem came back into the room. "Professor Stein will be here in a few minutes."

"And in the meantime, we have the perfect opportunity to play 'how many tv shows are the same across the two Earths'," announced Cisco.

Sophie nodded eagerly and began list as many as she could think of. "Buffy the vampire slayer?"

"Yes, we have that."

"Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendon?"

"Yep."

"Your turn."

"Ummm, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles?"

"Yes!"

Cisco paused to think. "Starring Lena Heady, Summer Glau and Thomas Dekker?"

"Yeah." Their conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a familiar older man in a suit whom Sophie waved at. "Hello Professor Stein."

"Sophie?" He looked at her in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled knowingly. "That's what we brought you here to find out."

He frowned. "I'm not quite sure I follow."

Cisco spun his swivel chair so he was facing Professor Stein. "This Barry and Sophie are from another world."

"Oh my."

Claudia quickly explained everything they knew, with occasional interruptions from Jem and Sophie.

"Is any of this possible? A breach to another Earth? It's not, right?" asked Caitlin.

"On the contrary," said Professor Stein. "Just recently, the many-different-worlds theory proposed interaction with parallel universes was plausible. Now, if what these two are saying is true, that theory's been proven sooner than we all thought."

"But it doesn't add up," protested Barry.

Sophie glared at him. "The good professor is about to explain. Shut your mouth."

However, Cisco was the one who took over. "So, this Barry and this Sophie are from, like, a mirror-world. Or a parallel universe that's very, very similar to ours. I knew I could open breeches and travel to different places on our earth but this is the first time it's been further than that."

There were still many blank expressions in the room so Stein pulled up a transparent board and took hold of a marker. "Okay, let's see if this helps." He drew a circle that took up half the board. "This is our Earth. Let's call it Earth-1." He wrote a number one above it. "And this second Earth, let's call it Earth-2. This is where Barry and Sophie claim to be from."

"Excuse me, 'claim'?" said Sophie angrily. "We _are_ from another Earth. What other proof do you want us to get? A 'greetings from Earth-2' card? A cross-dimensional travel licence?"

"Alright, Miss Allen."

"Just Sophie, thank you."

"I apologise, Sophie."

She met his eyes. "Sorry, I'm having a bit of a weird day."

"Your opinion entirely justified," said Professor Stein. "Anyway, these other Earths, three, four, five, to infinity, all of them, are nearly identical to ours. And they all exist at the same time, giving us endless alternatives to what we have here. For example, the Jem on Earth-2, your doppelganger, he might not be a technician. He could be a prize winning author. And you, the Barry Allen on these two Earths are The Flash, but on another you could be a famous dancer."

"So, I'm assuming that the people on all these other Earths work to make money to pay bills and such," said Barry.

"I would imagine."

"So we got that in common."

Sophie shrugged. "To be honest, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole idea of time travel."

Claudia gasped. "You can time travel?"

"Mm-hm. Barry did it once and nearly messed up the timeline. I can't though. He can also make speed mirages and throw lightning. It's really cool."

Claudia laughed. "The only thing Jem can throw is shade."

Sophie snorted and high-fived Claudia. "Hey Bar," Sophie called. "When we get home, we need to see if there is a Claudia Wells on our Earth. Make a note on your phone."

Barry gave her a look. "Why can't you make a note on your phone?"

"Because it was my idea, Nerd."

"What – how does that make me a nerd?"

"I dunno. It just does." Sophie's tone left no room for disagreement and she folded her arms smugly.

Claudia and Jem shared a knowing smile. It was good to see another sibling due bickering in the way they did.

Caitlin's phone rang and she picked it up from the desk and answered it. "Hello? Oh hi Hartley. Yes of course. They're on their way." She put her phone back down. "Hartley says there is a meta at the Precinct. He and Barry – our Barry, that is – can't risk exposing themselves. Do you mind?"

"Not at all." Sophie gave her brother a nod and the two of them vanished.

Their feet pounded the paving stones in almost perfect unison as the world blurred around them in slow motion. Thankfully the precinct was in the exact same place in both worlds, so that wasn't an issue.

Sophie did find it interesting that some little details were completely different. For example, a tree where none existed in her world or the complete absence of a little diner next to the bookstore. If she didn't have a meta to defeat she could easily have spent all day wandering around another Earth's Central City.

She was just about to enter the precinct when a gentle hand on her arm stopped her.

"Wait," said Barry quietly, pulling her out of sight of the door.

Sophie looked up at him questioningly.

"Do you actually know where to go? Because I don't want to freak anybody out by being in the same room as the other me."

"That is…a very good point." She pressed her earpiece. "Hey, friends? Where do we actually want to be?"

"That is a good question," said Caitlin. Clicking as she typed something. "There is a back entrance that leads you directly to – "

"Captain Singh's office," finished Barry.

"Yes. Our Barry and Hartley have barricaded the meta in there."

"Thanks." Sophie hung up. "You know where to go?"

Barry nodded and led the way around the back, in through an emergency exit and up a narrow staircase. At the top there was a door that he pushed open carefully, peering round it tentatively. Inside was a teenage boy sat on the floor with his legs crossed, looking at his hands that were folded in his lap.

"Hello," he said without glancing upwards. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone." His tone was passive and emotionless.

Barry shifted his eyes to Sophie for a split second and she indicated with her head for him to enter. Like he was approaching a feral animal, Barry walked into the room.

The boy rose gracefully and morphed into a slim young woman, transformation complete by the time he was stood. "So nice of you to come check on me, but I'm alright thanks."

"I'm not here to check on you," said Barry. "I'm here to stop you from hurting anyone."

"Shame about that." She pursed her lips prettily.

"Why?"

"Because you're only going to end up getting hurt yourself." She changed shape again effortlessly then stood before him a 200 pound female bodybuilder with muscles so defined you could grate cheese on them.

"That's what you think." He rushed forwards and tackled her, but she grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him onto the ground.

All the air was knocked out of Barry for a split second, but before the meta even had time to blink he formed a speed mirage and there were four Barrys in different parts of the tiny office. One sat on the desk, one on the floor, one by the door and a final one behind the meta.

"How are you doing that?" she shouted. Trying to keep up with at least one Barry, she spun on the spot. But the speedster was running in dizzying circles, just a blur.

Outside the room, Sophie clutched her hands to her chest and bit her lip nervously. So the meta was a shapeshifter. Did they have the abilities of whoever they appeared as? Or was it just other people's perception that changed? Were they changing themselves, or manipulating other people's minds? She had so many questions. Of course now was not the time to ask them, but thinking helped distract her from worrying about her brother, revealing herself and messing up the plan.

"Now!" called Barry.

Sophie, syringe in hand, used her speed to run into the room and plunge the needle into the meta's neck. She dropped to the ground unconscious and Barry stopped running.

"Good work," he panted.

"Pshhh, I didn't do anything." Sophie moved her hand as if she was waving his congratulation away. "Let's go tell everyone it is safe."

"You go. Neither of us are in our supersuits and other me is still out there."

"Here." Sophie knelt on the desk and drew in the strings of Barry's hoody until it covered almost his entire face with just a gap for his mouth and nose, then tied them in a bow. Then she rooted around in one of the desk drawers and produced a pair of scissors. Then she cut eye holes for him carefully. "Ta da!"

Barry smiled. "Good job. I am slightly upset about you cutting up my favourite hoody though."

"I'll buy you a new one." She pulled up her own hood then followed Barry as he led them around into the main office.

"The shapeshifter is gone," announced Barry in his best Oliver Queen-imitation gruff voice. "You are safe."

A round of applause erupted and Sophie was taken aback by the genuine smiles of the members of the police force. It had been a while since she had seen the effect of her saving people firsthand. They were so…grateful. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Thank you," said Captain Singh, approaching them. "Truly. What may we do to repay you?"

"We don't do this for a reward," replied Barry. "It was our pleasure."

It really was, thought Sophie. She was getting emotional. After all the bad things that had happened to her recently, this one good thing was almost overwhelming.

"Well, thank you."

Barry and Sophie nodded in acknowledgement and left the room. On her way out, Sophie smiled.


	6. We have a problem

"You take her back to S.T.A.R. Labs," said Sophie. "I'll be with you in a minute."

"Alright." Barry darted into the back room, scooped the meta up into his arms and vanished in a cloud of yellow lightning.

Sophie stood watching the trail he left behind fade, until all of a sudden a being that looked like it could be a ghost flew right up to her.

She screamed and harnessed her powers so quickly and forcefully that it made her dizzy. Using telekinesis, she lashed out and froze the creature in its tracks. It remained there, unmoving, inches from her face. Up close the creature was even more hideous. A skeleton with decaying flesh and hollow eye sockets. Like something out of a nightmare.

Sophie didn't know what to do. Her head was spinning and she was fairly sure that if she tried to move she would faint. Hopefully Barry was somewhere nearby. "Barry!" she shrieked. "Help!"

Terror pulsed through her bloodstream as the creature bared its teeth at her and she focussed all her energy on keeping it away from her. Just hold on until Barry gets here, she repeated as a mantra to calm herself. Just hold on until -

Something in her right ear beeped and relief made her knees tremble. She had forgotten about her earpiece. An unexpected voice began speaking to her, measured and reassuring. "Sophie, it's Claudia. Remain calm, we can see everything through the camera in your jacket and know what this is. A time wraith. We were plagued by them once before when another speedster from a different world showed up calling himself Zoom. Long story. Anyway, the only way to stop it attacking you is to return to your own Earth."

"Return to my own…what?"

"Return home like now." Cisco's voice was faint, so Claudia must still have been holding the microphone. "It's not that we don't love you but -

Professor Stein cut him off and there was a screech of feedback as he moved the microphone, "But unless you can fathom out a way of keeping the time wraith away from you for the foreseeable future we recommend you return to your own world."

"Can't I say goodbye in person?" she asked meekly.

"Jem will phone Barry now, and then he will come over and run Cisco to you where he will use his powers to send you home," said Claudia. "I'm so sorry it has to be like this. Hold on Sophie. We won't be long."

"Alright," replied Sophie. She was straining to keep this hideous creature away from her and trying not to look at it. The entire procedure was exhausting and daunting, to say the least.

Fortunately she did not have to wait long. Barry and Cisco materialised next to her, with Cisco wearing those strange glasses again. "Fear not Sophie!" he announced. "We are here to save you!"

"Thanks guys," she said weakly.

"Barry take her hand," instructed Cisco. "And I'll do my thing. Goodbye."

The Allens said their goodbyes, and were enveloped in a blue mist that transported them to another world. The screams of the time wraith echoed in their ears as the siblings hugged each other tightly.

Eventually the world stopped spinning and Sophie opened one eye cautiously. "Where are we?"

Their surroundings looked nothing like Central City.

"Are we in the wrong timezone?" asked Barry, looking around.

Sophie frowned. "I don't think so. There are no hover boards or anything." She took a few steps around then caught sight of a sign that said 'welcome to National City'. "Bar, look."

"Huh. Same time period, different place. Cisco's powers work with vibrations, right? Maybe he got the wrong frequency. We were in a bit of a rush, after all."

"Yeah, maybe."

 **AN – I'm sorry it has been so long but I had a major case of writer's block. I don't want to abandon this story without giving it a proper ending so there will be at least another two chapters but I have no idea how long they will take. Thank you for bearing with me!**


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